One of the most interesting things we hear on our radio are the German short wave broadcasts. These programs are “beamed” at England and the United States and are propaganda from beginning to end. They are packed with the most outrageous distortions of truth that one could imagine. A few out-and-out lies are mixed in for variety.
But I must admit that these programs are clever too. Some of the commentators on these programs are or claim to be Americans who were smart enough to jump on Hitler’s bandwagon. Some are men, some are women. They speak without an accent, as a rule, and have an “American” way of saying things that makes it easy for one to believe them if he doesn’t keep on his toes mentally and analyze what they are saying. I’m sure you are familiar with the things that the Nazis harp on in their propaganda. Most of their efforts now are directed toward splitting Britain from the United States and the United States and Britain from Russia.
A few months ago Colonel Robert McCormick of the Chicago Tribune suggested that England apply for admission to the union as a state! Boy did that catch on with the Nazi propagandists! That’s all they talked about for weeks. They’ve been telling the English right along that the “American imperialists” were playing them for a bunch of suckers and would like nothing better than to gobble up the British Empire! So when “Bertie” McCormick shot off his mouth, it was just like tossing kerosene on the fire. When it comes to propaganda, those Nazi boys don’t miss a trick. Fortunately, “Bertie” speaks for a very small part of the American population.
These guys use some pretty smart schemes to induce people to listen to their lies. For instance there is one program where they alternate giving news bulletins (strictly from the Nazi point of view) and recordings of Bing Crosby and Glen Gray and his Casa Loma Orchestra!
There is one woman announcer known as “Gladys”. She speaks perfect English and claims to be an American. She is fond of saying to us, “Boys, why don’t you go home to your families? There’s no reason why you should be over here.” She has never explained why the German boys aren’t home with their families!
[letterstohome copyright 2008]